So, the Earth is Back- Now What?
by Marochre
Summary: Videl, during a restless night, heads over to Gohan's home in the hopes that he can give her some peace of mind regarding all that she has learned about him, his family and the world. Set immediately post-Buu. Very dialogue-heavy because I like that kind of thing. Rating is for a bit of language.


AN: So I recently rewatched Dragonball Z on a whim (one that strikes every couple of years) and in a bout of post-DBZ blues I decided to whip up a quick oneshot. I am always interested in what you DON'T see in the show, so obviously the events immediately after Buu are going to tickle my fancy a little, especially in the instance of a budding romance... So yeah. I apologise for any instances of OOC-ness. I like to think Mystic Gohan is a little more suave than he probably is but hey, don't we all wish things turned out a bit different for that guy? Heh. Enjoy!

oOoOoOoOo

Videl only realised she was flying in the direction of his home when she was already quite a ways out of the city. Gohan was likely asleep, but hopefully he wouldn't be overly bothered by her sudden appearance. With what she knew about his capabilities, possibly he already knew she was coming? These were the thoughts that plagued her now.

She had spent the last forty-eight hours in a weird daze, not really able to comprehend all the events that had led to this point. The low key, intimate gathering at Bulma's the night before would have been a wonderful opportunity to pick Gohan's brain about… well, everything, but Videl had mostly just enjoyed the company of this bizarre group of people, before being dragged home earlier than she would have liked by her father who, understandably, wanted a small amount of 'family time'.

The world Videl had known just a few weeks prior was pretty much gone, now- figuratively of course, since it was actually pretty well intact at this point. It was more the fact that she now had extremely fresh memories of the world and its inhabitants going to hell in a hand basket that kept her from being able to see things the way she had before. She now knew of the planet's vulnerabilities, as well as the vulnerabilities of her own race. She now knew that humans weren't the only folks around. What a sobering thought; the boy she was about to go see, wasn't entirely human.

Hovering inches above the grass surrounding the Son home, Videl contemplated her next move. The house gave off no impression of there being anybody awake inside. Unsurprising, at just past three in the morning. She knew which room Gohan slept in, but was she really going to throw a pebble at his window like she had seen in so many movies? Ridiculous. She'd wake up the whole house doing that. Videl liked to pretend still that she could make undetected movements, though realistically she knew that her arrival was probably old news to the family already.

Videl was regretting her decision to visit at such a dumb hour, and decided her best option was to stargaze on the nearby grassy knoll until… sunrise? Until someone came out and found her? Whenever. She'd play it by ear.

The grass was a bit chilly to lie on. Night time will do that to a terrain, she supposed, shutting down her own inner complaints. A side effect of this ridiculous situation was that she suddenly felt the need to be grateful for everything ever, even if it was just a thick patch of grass near the home of a boy she liked quite a lot. At least it wasn't asphalt.

"Fancy seeing you here."

Videl nearly jumped out of her skin, hearing Gohan's voice so close. She attempted to regain her composure, and glanced to her left where he was moving to lie down.

"You could have tapped on the window, y'know," Gohan said. "Though, I was actually already out here so you might have had Goten to contend with."

"Maybe I wanted to see Goten," Videl responded dryly. She wasn't particularly great at laying on the sweetness, though she desperately wanted to be nice to Gohan. Thankfully, he seemed more amused by the response than anything.

"Anyway, what _is_ up? What brings you here?" Gohan asked.

Videl picked a blade of grass out and attempted to peel it into two perfect halves.

"Yeah, I like to peel blades of grass as well," Gohan said when she didn't respond. "I can see why you left your bed in the middle of the night to come do it."

"When did you get so sarcastic?" Videl asked, with genuine curiosity. She rolled onto her side and stared directly into Gohan's eyes. "I am obviously having an existential crisis, can't you tell?"

"Ah, one of those."

"Yeah."

They both fell silent for about half a minute. Videl shifted onto her back again and looked at the sky. "You know, the stars seem a lot closer now," she mused.

"Well…" Gohan started. "They're… not. If that helps. I don't really know what you want to hear."

"Nothing, really," Videl responded. "I don't know what I'm saying anyway."

Gohan bit his bottom lip and pondered for a moment. "What's the one thing you want to ask me right now?"

Videl sat up and gave Gohan a once-over, taking in his long frame, lean but muscular in a black t-shirt and soft looking grey pants. He looked so boyish, so normal, if not slightly uncomfortable about being analysed so thoroughly. He always seemed so naive, and in a way he probably still was. Looking past that now, knowing that there was more to see, Videl tried to get her head around all that he was, all he had done.

"How are you so…" She trailed off, not knowing really what she meant.

Gohan raised an eyebrow, seemingly amused by Videl's loss of words. "So…?"

"Chilled out?" Videl was pretty sure there were better descriptions but her brain was already pretty spent and wasn't about to come forth with any more eloquent ideas.

Gohan appeared to be considering her question. "Chilled out? I… don't know that I'm particularly chilled out," he responded. "Just acclimatised, maybe?"

"To what, the world ending?" Videl shot back.

"What makes you think I'm chilled out about that?" Gohan responded, suddenly sounding quite serious.

"Because you guys are all just able to celebrate and be happy after all of this and I'm spazzing out and can't sleep and I'm just so freaking _aware_ of everything," Videl responded quickly, sounding a little less together than she wanted to.

Gohan sat up, closing the gap between their bodies in doing so. Videl, despite her current emotional state was thankful for the sudden warmth that he was sharing with her.

"Ever since I've been able to contemplate what's beyond those stars, I've been told in no uncertain terms what's there, both the good and the bad," Gohan said calmly. "I've known what I am and where I come from since I was pretty young. I don't expect you to immediately be chilled out about it."

"But I want to be." Videl said, so quiet and unsure of herself. She wasn't used to that. "I want to prove that I'm up for the challenge."

Gohan looked at her, confused. "What challenge?"

"Of fitting in. With you, with your life." Videl hated how presumptuous that sounded, but she was pleased to be saying what she felt.

"What makes you think you don't already?" Gohan asked. "You pretty much spent the last month with my family and friends. If any of us didn't want you around…"

"You'd what? I don't really see you as the kind of guy who is very good at getting rid of unwanted pests," Videl retorted. "You're way too nice for that."

"That's true."

Videl waited for Gohan to continue and was moderately horrified when he didn't. Was he trying to give her a hint?

"I'll make it easy for you then," Videl said, moving to stand up. Gohan grabbed her arm before she could make any real effort, and then hesitantly shifted his hold on her arm, to her fingers, letting them intertwine with his own.

"I was just messing with you," he said, shyly. "When did you stop being so confident?"

Videl wasn't immediately sure how to respond to that. It was a good question. She felt like she had changed a lot in such a short amount of time. What facet of herself was she trying to present here?

"When I realised how entitled I was acting before," she admitted. "I'm… sorry I was such a freak at school. Forcing you to teach me how to fly. Blackmailing you."

Gohan squeezed her hand slightly and chuckled. "Whatever, Videl. It's really not an issue. I probably would have been annoyed at me too. Secrets suck."

"Don't excuse me for all the crap I put you through!" she scolded. "I was awful. All you were doing was trying to protect your livelihood and I was threatening to ruin it."

"Yeah, but you stuck around after that," Gohan pointed out. "I think it really meant a lot to everybody, seeing someone be there for me who… didn't really have to be."

Videl's heart almost ached, so overwhelmed she was by Gohan's ability to see the good in her when she was so crazy.

"It meant a lot to me, anyway," Gohan continued quietly.

"Yeah, as if I'm the one doing someone a favour here," Videl bit back. "You're basically the only reason any of us are alive and you're thanking me for not bailing after some flying lessons?"

"What's your point exactly, Videl?"

She sighed and tried to reel in her emotions. "My point is that you are… just beyond incredible for doing what you do. For still being so kind when you can see all the terrible things people are capable of. You're seeing all this good in me even though my family stole credit from you for doing something no one else could. You-"

Gohan put up his hand. "We don't want any of that credit. Well, at least I know I don't. I know my mum harps on about money a little bit but this is better than the alternative, I promise."

"What alternative is that? Becoming like me?" Videl asked. She removed her hand from his and hugged her knees to her chest.

"What? No. Seriously Videl, stop assuming the worst here, please?" Gohan replied, clearly feeling a bit in over his head. "I just mean, I can't really step out and say that I'm the son of an alien and that I beat Cell and just expect things to not go absolutely crazy. That's not the life I want. You know that, and you know I hold nothing against you. You didn't do anything."

Videl leaned into Gohan's warmth again. She wanted to feel close to him, every possible second. If she could have gotten away with it, she would have spent the last couple of days with him, learning about him, beginning where they left off. Sadly, familial duties called on both their parts. Also, there was the added problem of her pride, which wouldn't allow for the kind of weakness she felt for him these days. Not openly, anyway.

"I just want the world to know how amazing you are," she said, voice muffled slightly by Gohan's t-shirt. "I want everybody to see the Gohan I started to see, even before…"

"I feel like maybe you'd think a little less of me if you'd seen me fight," he mumbled.

Videl raised her head to look at him. "Why's that?"

She felt Gohan sigh. "Because," he started, "I'm… not a great person when I fight. I become this weird hybrid of arrogance and stupidity. I make horrible decisions. There was no reason why I couldn't have taken care of things properly from the very start and yet, I still fucked up."

Hearing the curse word from Gohan's mouth was surprising for Videl but she figured, having met the group who raised him, it wasn't all that weird. She was getting more and more used to the glimpses she saw of this boy who was so reserved at school.

"I'm sure no one else sees it that way, Gohan," she replied after a moment, and reached down to his hand again. She lifted his arm up and, holding Gohan's hand in two of hers, she found herself analysing the limb. It looked just like any other guy's hand. How weird it was to know the truth.

"Anything fascinating to report back?" Gohan asked after about half a minute, knocking Videl out of her trance.

Looking back up at him, she noticed he looked slightly amused, but was still obviously carrying some anguish from moments earlier.

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around it," Videl explained. "Everything about you seems so normal. How are Saiyans so similar to humans? Your hair looks the same and yet it can spontaneously change colour. I don't even… whatever. You guys are incredible."

A nervous chuckle spilled from Gohan, and he flexed his fingers a few times. "Thanks, I guess? It's always a bit funny hearing people talk about it. I'm glad to have someone like Bulma in the know. She's studied us a lot over the years, and Vegeta helps out with the history side of things since he's the only one who really grew up as a Saiyan."

He paused for a moment, before reaching up to touch a lock of his hair. "Although, I guess this will be black from now on. That old Kai pretty much made it an unnecessary and dangerous transformation for me, now."

Videl's eyebrows shot up. So much had happened lately, there hadn't been enough time for all the stories to be told yet. "Really? I'd just gotten used to you being able to transform." She smirked. "It's a bit of a shame; I kind of liked it."

"I'm sorry," Gohan replied with a smile. "Guess you're stuck with plain old me."

She had to scoff at that. "There's nothing plain about you."

Following her statement, Videl's stomach fluttered a little at the sight of Gohan's mild embarrassment at the compliment. So adorable; he really had no clue what he did to her. Or, maybe he did. It was hard to know with him sometimes. Always full of surprises, that guy. Especially now, as he leaned down to place a firm kiss on her cheek. She didn't expect that. She did, however, recover from her surprise quickly enough to catch his lips with hers before he pulled away. He wasn't the only one who could be bold!

Videl broke the kiss off for long enough that she could shuffle onto her knees so that they weren't quite as contorted. He was so freaking tall, even sitting down it was apparent. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders, his around her waist and just like that they began kissing again and yes, this is what she had wanted since… god, she didn't even know now. Gohan's hand squeezed her waist slightly and pulled her closer to him as he laid them both onto the grass so that they were side by side, facing one another.

Gohan looked thoughtful at that moment. He usually did, really. Videl wasn't sure he was capable of clearing his thoughts entirely. "Anything wrong?" she asked hesitantly.

"Not at all," Gohan responded distractedly. "I was just remembering…" He stroked her back with his thumb. "If my dad and Vegeta hadn't been eaten by Buu, they'd have been a permanent fusion."

Videl tried to see how that thought could have come from their making out but she wasn't sure there was a logical progression. "Terrifying," she said, honestly. "But… why are you bringing this up now?"

"Because the other earring wasn't meant to go to Vegeta, it was meant for me."

"Huh." Suddenly getting the connection, Videl's eyes widened. "OH… Oh, god."

"Yeah…" Gohan said, with a nervous laugh. "Lucky I dropped it and got absorbed instead, hey?"

Videl's mind quickly flashed into alternate-universe land, where the hypothetical fusion of Gohan and his father caused a thoroughly disturbing dilemma for both herself and poor Chi Chi.

"Can we please never think about that again while we do this?" she asked quickly.

Gohan nodded. "Absolutely. Just didn't want to be alone with that thought." He kissed her forehead. "We also probably don't need to discuss the fact that my dad nearly gave the other earring to _your_ dad."

"NO, NO WE DO NOT," Videl protested loudly, before she collapsed into giggles at the thought and Gohan followed suit, music to her ears as his genuine laugh and warm hug immediately cured her of her anxieties regarding her- their- future. Everything would be fine.


End file.
